The Premier League is one of the most lucrative competitions in all of sport.
With television revenue coming out of its ears and tens of thousands of fans spinning through the turnstiles, it’s no wonder that the division produces massive transfer fees and player wages.
And now that one of the craziest transfer windows in living memory has slammed shut, we wanted to assess how the economic landscape of the Premier League has changed over the summer.
Premier League riches
Here at GIVEMESPORT, we have already investigated how much the division’s highest-earning XI has changed recently and now we’re honing in on the wages across each of the major positions.
Besides, although goalkeepers and centre-halves are seeing their values increase in recent years, there’s no denying that different positions tend to attract varying wage expenditures.
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As such, we set about our challenge of naming the five highest-earning Premier League players in each position, which, as you can imagine, threw up its fair share of interesting results.
We split the positions into seven categories depending on where the players are most often used: goalkeepers, left-backs, centre-backs, right-backs, central midfielders, wingers and strikers.
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Highest-paid Premier League players
And with wage data varying across sources, particularly for new deals and transfers, we’re going with the statistics over at spotrac to maintain a degree of consistency with our rankings.
However, you’re not here for the disclaimers and explanations, so let’s dive into the action and work through the reported five-highest paid Premier League players in each position down below:
Goalkeepers
=5. Hugo Lloris (Tottenham Hotspur) – £100,000-a-week
=5. Dean Henderson (Manchester United) – £100,000-a-week
=5. Jordan Pickford (Everton) – £100,000-a-week
=5. Bernd Leno (Arsenal) – £100,000-a-week
4. Kasper Schmeichel (Leicester City) – £130,000-a-week
3. Alisson Becker (Liverpool) – £150,000-a-week
2. Kepa Arrizabalaga (Chelsea) – £155,000-a-week
1. David de Gea (Manchester United) – £375,000-a-week
Woof. It’s fair to say that United spend big on their goalkeepers with De Gea pocketing £220,000 more every week than any of his rivals, while Henderson is somehow earning more than Ederson.
Left-backs
=5. Marcos Alonso (Chelsea) – £100,000-a-week
=5. Sead Kolasinac (Arsenal) – £100,000-a-week
4. Kieran Tierney (Arsenal) – £110,000-a-week
3. Lucas Digne (Everton) – £119,000-a-week
2. Luke Shaw (Manchester United) – £150,000-a-week
1. Ben Chilwell (Chelsea) – £190,000-a-week
Look away Arsenal fans because Kolasinac’s presence will prompt more than a few sighs, while Chilwell’s place at the top is made to look generous by Thomas Tuchel’s clear preference for Alonso.
Centre-backs
5. Cesar Azpilicueta (Chelsea) – £150,000-a-week
4. Harry Maguire (Manchester United) – £189,904-a-week
3. Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool) – £220,000-a-week
2. John Stones (Manchester City) – £250,000-a-week
1. Raphael Varane (Manchester United) – £340,000-a-week
Van Dijk has lost top spot this summer due to Stones’ new contract and Varane’s dramatic arrival but for the most part, the centre-back wages correspond pretty well with quality compared to other positions.
Right-backs
5. Joao Cancelo (Manchester City) – £80,000-a-week
4. Nathaniel Clyne (Crystal Palace) – £80,769-a-week
3. Aaron Wan-Bissaka (Manchester United) – £90,000-a-week
2. Kyle Walker (Manchester City) – £110,000-a-week
1. Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool) – £180,000-a-week
Clearly, for whatever reason, right-back is the least lucrative position in the Premier League and with all due respect to Clyne, we have no idea how he’s earning more than Cancelo at Selhurst Park.
Central midfielders
=4. Tanguy Ndombele (Tottenham Hotspur) – £200,000-a-week
=4. Thiago Alcantara (Liverpool) – £200,000-a-week
=4. Thomas Partey (Arsenal) – £200,000-a-week
=3. Paul Pogba (Manchester United) – £290,000-a-week
=3. N’Golo Kante (Chelsea) – £290,000-a-week
2. Jack Grealish (Manchester City) – £300,000-a-week
1. Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City) – £400,000-a-week
It only seems natural that the Premier League’s best player would be the highest-earner in their position, while Partey, Ndombele, Thiago have really struggled to justify their pay packets so far.
Wingers
5. Christian Pulisic (Chelsea) – £150,000-a-week
=3. Marcus Rashford (Manchester United) – £200,000-a-week
=3. Mohamed Salah (Liverpool) – £200,000-a-week
2. Raheem Sterling (Manchester City) – £300,000-a-week
1. Jadon Sancho (Manchester United) – £350,0000-a-week
Talk about pressure for a 21 year old. It’s eye-opening to think that United’s most expensive summer signing is pocketing more than established Premier League goalscorers like Salah and Sterling.
Centre forwards
=4. Anthony Martial (Manchester United) – £250,000-a-week
=4. Edinson Cavani (Manchester United) – £250,000-a-week
=4. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Arsenal) – £250,000-a-week
3. Timo Werner (Chelsea) – £272,000-a-week
2. Romelu Lukaku (Chelsea) – £325,000-a-week
1. Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United) – £510,000-a-week
Yup, United are spending pretty darn big when it comes to wages. Give or take Kane’s bewildering absence, the Red Devils really dominate with their mind-boggling £1,010,000-a-week spending on forwards.
Man Utd’s massive spending
The biggest takeaway? The fact that United are really splashing the case when it comes to wages.
To think that they have the highest-paid goalkeeper, centre-back, winger and striker in the division is pretty scary and really goes to show the pressure they are under to win the Premier League title.
That being said, money can’t necessarily buy you quality and the fact that players like Kane, Alisson Becker, Andrew Robertson and Ruben Dias aren’t even on the list illustrates that perfectly.
